GR World Cup to kick off in southwestern Iran today
The Greco-roman Wrestling World Cup 2017 will start in Iran’s Persian Gulf city of Abadan, Khuzestan Province, today.
Russia, which has been drawn in Group A along with Iran, Kazakhstan and Germany, will take part in the prestigious event with world and Olympic Games medalists, seeking to overturn three years of runner-up finishes and hoist the Greco-roman World Cup for the first time since 2013, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Despite all the firepower, today [in the evening’s session] Russia can expect a stiff challenge in the preliminary rounds from defending champion Iran, even though Rio 2016 bronze medalist Saeid Abdevali (75kg) is the lone Olympian on the Iranian roster.
Group B consists of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Belarus and Ukraine.
Wrestling World Cup is an international wrestling competition among teams representing member nations of the United World Wrestling (UWW) the sport’s global governing body.
The championships have been conducted every year since the 1973 tournament. The World Cup began as a dual-meet competition for the top teams on each continent, but now features the top teams in the rankings of the previous year’s world championships.
Schedule:
Thursday, March 16 9:00-12:00 – Session 1 Group A – Russia vs. Kazakhstan, Iran vs. Germany Group B – Azerbaijan vs. Turkey, Belarus vs. Ukraine
17:20-18:00 – Opening Ceremony 18:00-20:00 – Session 2 Group A – Russia vs. Iran, Kazakhstan vs. Germany Group B – Azerbaijan vs. Belarus, Turkey vs. Ukraine
Friday, March 17 9:15-11:45 – Session 3 Group A – Russia vs. Germany, Kazakhstan vs. Iran Group B – Azerbaijan vs. Ukraine, Turkey vs. Belarus
11:45-13:00 – Finals for 7th-8th place and 5th-6th place 16:45-18:00 – Final for 3rd-4th Place
18:00-19:30 – Championship final and award ceremonies